The Other Guy
by miss-blanche
Summary: He’s the guy who makes women realise how great the other guy is. But not to her. Everything is different with her. Mark/Lexie


**A/N This is my first stab at a Grey's Anatomy fic but something about this pairing just begs to be written about. Enjoy. :)**

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**The Other Guy**

There's a part of him that thinks Derek is right. What kind of man sleeps with his best friend's wife? Not a good one, he knows that much. And if he's not a good guy like Derek he knows he should be staying away from any female with the surname Grey. There's something so demonstrably tragic about those Grey women with their family dramas and their fragility. And fragile women and man whores don't usually mix with any kind of good result. This he knows yet…

They've been doing this for weeks. No one knows of course; in the name of attending/intern relationships everything is secret. But it's not because it doesn't matter to him because it does. Everything about her and them matters to him. It did before they even started sleeping together. He can't exactly remember when he started caring but it was well before she came to his hotel room. That was just icing on the cake.

There's that part of him that thinks Derek is right and that he shouldn't be doing this but… Then she stirs in her fragile way beside him and opens her eyes and looks at him like she's seeing the sun. When she does that he can't think of himself as 'man whore' Mark or 'dirty mistress' Mark. It reminds him of how he felt when Addison first told him she was pregnant. Like he had a purpose. With Addison it was different because there was always doubt clouding her expression and lacing her words. Doubt that sliced through that purposefulness and made him feel like a criminal. He never felt wanted with Addison. Maybe in the briefest moments of ecstasy but then when everything was said and done the doubt would be there and he'd be left feeling cold and alone. He knows he can't blame his whorish actions on Addison's lack of interest in their relationship but when she told him she was having that baby – in the few days he got to enjoy and entertain the idea before she took it away so quickly – he felt like he was enough for her. That he could satisfy her. And when he saw the doubt and when she had the abortion well… He knew he couldn't satisfy her. So he tried to satisfy someone else.

He's been doing that for a while now. Trying to satisfy other people. All he seems to get out of it is a group of self hating, guilt ridden women, united in their hate for him. He's not satisfying anyone. Not Addy… Not Callie… He's the guy who makes women realise how great the other guy is and it sucks.

But when she looks at him like that he doesn't feel like a criminal. He doesn't feel like he's causing her to hate herself.

He feels like the other guy.

There's a part of him that sees where Derek is coming from because from where Derek stands he's the bad guy but… Lexie doesn't think he's the bad guy. And when she doesn't think he's the bad guy he doesn't think it either. Part of him is actually even pissed at Derek – the man seduced an intern. An intern named Grey no less. Burke did it. Addison did it for fuck's sake. Everybody's done it. Why is he the dog getting whacked on the nose with the newspaper?

Because he's Mark Sloan.

But now she's waking up. She's wrinkling her nose (probably as a result from the amount of hair splayed across her face) and trying to wiggle out of the strict confines of the bed sheets. She looks… Adorable. And he's never used that word on any woman he's been with before. Sexy? Yes. Adorable? No.

But he loves the sound of it. He loves the way it describes every aspect of her. The nervous babbling and her cute pink lips. He's heard the interns being referred to as 'twelve' year olds and if there's anything remotely twelve year old-ish about her it's her pink lips.

Her eyes open in confusion until her gaze rests on him and her cute pink lips curve into a smile.

And he doesn't feel remotely like Mark Sloan.

"Hey." She says sleepily, brushing the dark curtain of hair out of her eyes.

"Hey." He replies with a bit of a smirk.

"Are you watching me sleep?"

He chuckles.

"Yes."

"That's kind of creepy."

"Creepy? I was going for romantic."

She giggles slightly and it makes him feel light headed. This is why he's not at the hospital early despite the surgeries he has planned for the day. And despite the quality of the company of women he's never given up surgery for sex. Ever.

But he's not really giving surgery up for sex; he's giving it up for giggling and breakfast.

And there's a part of him that thinks Derek is right; that he's the evil guy in the cape and she's the girl with the rosy cheeks and no good will come of this but…

As her giggles cease and she stares at him with those damn _adorable_ eyes he finds himself leaning towards her and resting his lips on hers softly. Chastely. Just because he can't help himself. And not because he can't control his sexual desires. And not because he's the sexual deviant everyone makes him out to be.

Because he's addicted to not being Mark Sloan in her eyes.

He's addicted to being the 'other guy.'

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**So would anyone be interested in having Mark watch them sleep in return for reviews? ;)**


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